Buffalo Rumblings
Two Longhorns and a running back flying under the radar
Week 12 of the college football season didn’t have any massive upsets by the Vegas numbers. But it did provide some more clarity on the pecking order in some of the country’s best conferences. With just two regular-season weeks remaining, the race still feels as open as ever.
Sixth-ranked BYU was upset by Kansas in a game where the Cougars were only favored by a field goal against an unranked Jayhawks team. BYU’s offense failed to get off the ground. A thrown interception on Kansas’ goal line proved to doom them as they dropped the contest 17-13.
Seventh-ranked Tennessee was a touchdown underdog against No. 12 Georgia on Saturday. The Bulldogs covered the spread and won 31-17 in a game that finally had the look of a Bulldogs offense that was being jump started. Quarterback Carson Beck facilitated and took good care of the football — an obvious winning recipe this year. Tennessee’s offense struggled again on Saturday. The Volunteers don’t have the horses at wideout they’ve had in recent years and redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava just hasn’t been consistent enough with his accuracy in 2024. Those problems culminated in this game.
21st-ranked South Carolina edged out No. 23 Missouri in a thriller in Columbia. There was back and forth punches thrown at the end of the game as Luther Burden III scored on a 37-yard vertical shot to take the lead with just over a minute remaining. South Carolina came back and chunked Missouri’s defense on a six play drive that took all of 47 seconds off the game clock to win 34-30.
Brian Kelly may be approaching hot seat territory sooner than later after No. 22 LSU’s most recent loss on the road 27-16 against unranked Florida. The Tigers’ defense got ripped up and the scoreboard wasn’t necessarily indicative of how dominant the Gators were. LSU ran 92 plays to Florida’s 43. The Tigers’ slim hopes of making the College Football Playoff are now completely dashed. The leader of the program is under plenty of heat while Florida’s Billy Napier has cooled his seat.
With the past week recapped, let’s take a look at three NFL Draft prospects who helped boost their stock with this past weekend’s performance.
Former Longhorns Byron Murphy II and T’vondre Sweat are getting their NFL careers started as rookies in 2024 and there was growing concern about what quality of players were returning at the interior defensive line spot with two of Texas’ stud performers leaving for the league. One player who has been recognized for his talent and has taken the next step in his development this year is Alfred Collins. It hasn’t resulted in all-world production this season, but his play has been excellent. That really showed up against Arkansas on Saturday where it felt like the fifth-year senior was all over the...
